Calls for sex assault court transcripts to be free

A woman from Guernsey is calling for court transcripts to be free after sexual assault trials.

Daisy Chapple went to Guernsey's Royal Court after making a rape allegation, where the defendant was found not guilty.

She was advised by law officers not to sit in proceedings in case of a retrial, and was quoted between £1,100 and £3,000 to read what was said.

Court recordings from Guernsey are transcribed by a UK company and a representative from the courts said it took only a "small admin fee".

People who give evidence in a trial as a witness or alleged victim are not allowed to be present in the courtroom before their cross-examination, in case they hear information which would change their answers.

After the witness or alleged victim's cross-examination, they are strongly advised by law officers not to watch the trial in the public gallery, as there is a chance they could be called to give evidence again in any retrial.

Ms Chapple, therefore, did not hear what happened in the courtroom until the verdict.

Despite meeting with the prosecution after the trial and requesting court documents, Ms Chapple said she only had a "vague understanding" of what the defendant had said and why the jurors came to their decision.

She said: "Because I don't understand the verdict, and because I still don't really know what his defence was, you worry.

"I worry it was something I said. I worry I said something wrong and that's how they came to the verdict."

"I hope it would be a form of closure to finally find out what was said when I wasn't in the courtroom."

Ms Chapple was quoted £750 to have her own and the defendant's cross-examinations transcribed, £350 for the defendant's evidence-in-chief, and £3,000 for the whole trial.

Senior Deputy Greffier Claire Cuthbert told the BBC that the transcription of court recordings was not a court fee but was an extra service for which the courts used a third-party supplier in the UK.

She said there was no provision in law for the taxpayer to cover the costs of transcripts at the moment.

Jenny Murphy is the manager of the Bailiwick of Guernsey Victim Support and Witness Service, a charity which supports people who have been victims of or witnesses to crimes regardless of verdict.

She said: "For most people who go through the court process, it's very traumatic. A lot of the time you don't take information in.

"When you're going through a trial as a victim of a crime, you're treated more like a witness, so you're actually not really party to a lot of the information being talked about.

"People are talking about you, and what's happened to you, and you don't know the details of what's been said."

Ms Murphy said, while she "sympathises" with the court not having the budget, paying for court transcripts "shouldn't be another thing for a victim to have to think about".

She said: "In Guernsey, we have no victim compensation scheme and an expensive medical system, so it's a really difficult position to be in when you have to pay further to get more information about your trial."

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